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(J. P. RILEY. TRACK OLEARER FOR RAILROADS.

Patented July '7, 1868.

game tom t CHRI TIAN FI-RILEY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO, HIMSELF AND JACOB 1 DAVID, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 79,600, dated' July 7, 1868.

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, --Q- TO'ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN l RILEY, of the city'of Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania, have inventeda new and.use ful Improvement in a Life andLimb-Protecting Track-Clearer for Railway-Oars; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation ofthe same, reference 'bein'g had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure is a side elevation of the said device as applied to a car.

Figure 2 a central longitudinal vertical section, and

Figure 3 a front elevation of the same- Like letters of reference indicating the same parts when in the different figures.

The object of my improvement 'is to afford'a more simple and reliable automatically-operating device, to be applied before the forward wheels of a railway-car, which will notonly rise and fall so-as to pass over any elevation or depression in the traclr, but will run .or slide under, and turu aside from the wheels the limbs or m of avperso'n who-may-bein front of the said cor-wheels and protector, when-the ear is'in forward motion,

My invention consists of an oblong block or foot, suspended from the frame of the car,'so that while it'will be free torise and falljust over the track, it will extend forward of and along the outer side1of the said wheels, substantially in the manner hereinafter described.

Referring to the drawings, A is the foot, suspended from the frame B of the car, in front of the forward car-wheel C, on the track 1).

The foot is an oblong block of. wood, having a flat,straight bottom, ro unded upward in rear and front, and shod with an iron plate, so as to render it-more durable against the sliding motion to which it is liable on the track D, when the car'is in motion over an uneven track.

Its-toe or forward end, a, is gradually thinned downward, and will pass readilyunder the' arm, leg, or body of a person fallen or lying on the track D. Its rear end is adapted to extend backwards along the lower outer edge of the car-wheel C. I

This foot A is fixed to a leg, a, which has a slotted tenon, a", on its upper end, that slides up and down in a corresponding hole in another piece, 6, which is fixed to project downward from the frame B. .This latter piece 6 is stayedby bracing-bars 6", which alsoextend downward and into respective grooves in the front and rear sides of the log a", so as to strengthen the latter inits vertical position.

A detachable pin, 6', pas ses'horizontally through the piece I), and the slot in the tenon a, and thus holds the foot near to or at a little distance above the track D, and at the same time allows the former to rise and full as any slight inequalities on the track may require. I V In the operation of this device, the arm, foot, leg, or body of a person falling or lying upon the track, will heunderrun by the toe a' of' the foot A, when the car is in forward'motion, and be thrown aside outof. any danger of being'passed over by the wheel 0, while any slight obstruction on the track, or unevenness in the rail, will be passed over by the shoe without causing any injurious effect, either upon the shoe or the car.

The device is simple of construction, not liable to get out of order lXLUSByl'S no hindrance to the motion of the car, and is found to be entirely reliable as a life and limb-protector for railway-cars.

Having thus fully described my improvement, what I Claim as new therein of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is confined to the following, viz I I claim a life and limb-protecting track-clearer for railway-cars, consisting of a foot, A, and leg a, constructed and applied in front of the wheels, so as-to move upward and downward in the vertical direction described, from any unevenness ofrthe track during the forward motion of the car, and so that its forward end may underrun and turn aside thelimbs or body of a person fallen or lying upon the track, substantially in the manner described. CHRISTIAN r; RILEY.

Witnesses:

BENJ. Momso Wm. H. Monrson. 

